(Alex
van Dyk & Brent Vermeulen)
Die
Stropers, the latest in a winning line of gay
themed films, opens at cinemas on March 15, 2019.
Queer cinema has steadily grown to become
one of the leading forces in film internationally over the last five years. And
South Africa is no different. Etienne Kallos’s film Die Stropers (The Harvesters),
which won critical acclaim at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, opens nationwide
on March 15 and is the latest in a series of award-winning films about gayness.
The South African-French-Greek-Polish
co-production, by first-time Greek-South African director Kallos, is an intense
psychological drama exploring the coming-of-age of a new generation of
Afrikaans youth. Set against a severe and dusty landscape, it tells the story
of obedient Afrikaans teenager, Janno (Brent Vermeulen), whose deeply religious
mother, Marie, brings home a troubled street orphan and drug addict, Pieter
(Alex van Dyk), to foster on the family’s remote cattle farm in the Free State.
It explores the thorny issue of identity
and sexuality in a provocative and darkly moving way. As Pieter goes through
withdrawal, Janno takes him under his wing, introducing him to the farm, the
local prayer group and the church boys’ rugby club. But Pieter is far worldlier
than Janno, and instantly spots the fact that Janno has a crush on his best
friend. Pieter also introduces Janno to the lively nearby black community, and
reveals that he has been selling his body to local men for cash. Janno finds
this shocking, but he’s also envious.
“Being gay in this farming society is
unthinkable,” says Kallos. “As orphans, these boys are already outsiders, and
they are forced to confront their sexuality in an extremely masculine setting
among people who are bigoted on many levels.”
To have boldly queer films in the running
for awards would have been unheard of ten years ago. It began with Todd Haynes’
Carol in 2015, and was followed by
the historic Academy Award for Best Picture win for Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight in 2016. In 2017, Luca
Guadagnino’s Call Me by Your Name was
hailed as a gorgeous coming-of-age tale that avoided the clichés in many films
about gay love. It won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, and was nominated
for Best Actor, Best Picture and Best Original Song.
Ground-breaking and highly publicised
lesbian film Rafiki (2018), directed
by Wanuri Kahiu had nine wins and 14 nominations at global festivals, despite
being banned in its home country of Kenya. The film had its international
premiere in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.
Indigenous Film Distribution will be releasing Rafiki in South Africa in May 2019.
In South Africa, Skoonheid, directed by Oliver Hermanus, was the first Afrikaans
film to be selected for the Cannes Film Festival Un Certain Regard, and won the
Queer Palm in 2011.
Inxeba (The Wound) (2017) won 19
awards of excellence at festivals around the globe, including the BFI, the
African American Film Critics Association, and the International Queer &
Migrant Film Festival in Amsterdam. At home, the film walked away with 8
SAFTAs.
In 2018 Kanarie,
the tale of a queer teenage man who gets called up for military service,
sparked international interest and raked in several international accolades
before even hitting the big screen in South Africa. It won the Silwerskerm Film
Festival award for Best Feature Film, among other awards, as well as Best LGBTQ
film at the Cape Town International Film Festival. It went on to win awards in Chicago
and Atlanta in the US. Kanarie was
also part of the Official Selection at the 2018 OutFest in Los Angeles, as well
as the Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film Festival.
“Die
Stropers looks set for a similar journey as it picks up awards all over the
world,” says Helen Kuun, MD of Indigenous Film Distribution. “What’s key about
award-winning films in this genre is that they allow audiences in on the LGBTQ
experience in ways both artful and political, and through characters who are
complex and magnetic.”
Die
Stropers had its premiere at the Cannes Film
Festival, where it received a standing ovation from the audience. It is a Spier
Films production. The film’s investors include the KwaZulu-Natal Film
Commission, Agence Film France, the Greek Film Institute, the Polish Film
Institute, and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and produced by Spier
Films. The film’s producers are Sophie Erbs, Cinema de Facto (France) and
Thembisa Cochrane, Spier Films (South Africa). The executive producers are Dr
Lwazi Manzi and Michael Auret, Spier Films.
Die
Stropers is distributed in South Africa by
Indigenous Film Distribution.
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